by Brian Cugelman

01 December 2003

Bonn, Germany: The true power of the Internet reaches far beyond flashing electronic billboards and junk email. Particularly for people in developing countries, the Internet’s value lies in providing a cost-effective way to connect to educational institutions and humanitarian organizations. Computers become outposts for relief and development – for government officials, rights advocates, rural farmers, health care workers and countless volunteers active throughout society. Indeed, the Internet is changing the way people interact meaningfully to improve lives.

Volunteers worldwide continue to increase their networking efforts energized by the International Year of Volunteers (IYV) 2001. Face-to-face encounters have been complemented by important web-based interaction at national, regional and global levels. A newcomer is WorldVolunteerWeb.org, which was launched on 5 December 2002 to coincide with International Volunteer Day, a UN-designated day commemorated each year since 1985.

The global volunteering web portal followed discussions among key advocates from government and civil society. In June 2002, volunteer leaders met at the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) headquarters in Bonn, Germany, to discuss follow-up to IYV. Building on previous discussions about a global volunteering portal, they agreed that it should host information about volunteering from around the globe, share examples of best practices, share technical expertise and support programming at the national level.

Helping meet this demand, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution A/RES/57/106, which was co-sponsored by 142 countries. It invited “the United Nations Volunteers to develop a global Internet volunteer resource based on the International Year of Volunteers web site and on national web sites with a view to enhancing network capabilities and to expanding information, knowledge and resource management”. Furthermore, the resolution encouraged “Governments and all stakeholders, in particular the private sector, to contribute on a voluntary basis to this initiative".

"We are pleased to see the development of WorldVolunteerWeb.org, an important gathering point for volunteers everywhere," said Elizabeth Burns, President of the International Association of Volunteer Effort (IAVE), a worldwide network organization with individual and organizational members in almost 100 countries.

UNV has put in place a team to build the technical infrastructure needed to achieve the web portal’s objectives. Currently, WorldVolunteerWeb.org provides regular news, trends in volunteering, a comprehensive document library, resources and tools, legislation, policy and a volunteer directory. It aims to become a global clearinghouse for volunteer information, resources and reports about organizations that advocate volunteerism or support volunteering.

"In response to the General Assembly resolution, UNV has actively supported knowledge-based networks through WorldVolunteerWeb.org," said Alison Tesfachew, Chief of UNV's External Relations Group. "We continue to build our document and contact databases, and we encourage volunteers, their organizations and their governments to get involved by contributing content that will benefit all who visit the site."

According to a web survey conducted by UNV, users of the WorldVolunteerWeb.org represent a include non-governmental organization (NGO) staff members, governmental representatives, researchers, private sector entrepreneurs and individual volunteers from all regions of the world. Some similarities among this diverse group stand out: Most work for the betterment of their society through social, political and environmental work; they place considerable value on volunteerism, as confirmed by the fact that 98 percent had volunteered in the past and 89 percent are involved in a social network ranging from local to global.

"Volunteers from all fields of engagement can tap the resources of the site to help reach common understanding of and support for citizen action," said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary-General and CEO of the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), an international alliance of over 650 organizations active in more than 105 countries.

One section of the portal’s content that attracts attention is information relating to International Volunteer Day (IVD). The site contains a new interactive section that aims to help the worldwide volunteer community plan for the day successfully. Wherever possible, volunteers are encouraged to link their activities to the global campaign to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of goals to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by the year 2015. Heads of government who met for the Millennium Summit at the United Nations in September 2000 adopted the goals.

The IVD section promotes global access to and local ownership of the Day through its toolkit featuring the official logo, planning sheet, list of ideas and media resources. It provides news and a directory where people can contact national focal points to get involved in their countries. People can join an email discussion list to share ideas and provide mutual support to volunteers at home and abroad. And after IVD, the site’s staff will collect follow-up reports and conduct a global survey that will help measure what happened and serve as a learning tool for successive volunteer Days.

UNV’s study also revealed that users of the International Year of Volunteers web site were involved in activities supporting the MDGs. The study showed that 22 percent of the users work for an organization that addressed all of the MDGs and 54 percent for an organization that addressed one or more. Among the respondents, forging a “global partnership for development” was the most popular MDG, followed by “eradicating extreme poverty and hunger “and by “ensuring environmental sustainability”.

To promote ties between civil society organizations, governments and individual volunteers, the MDGs feature prominently in WorldVolunteerWeb.org. The MDGs represent issues of common global concern based on mutual agreement between civil society and governments. WorldVolunteerWeb.org is an advocate of volunteering for development whose scope encompasses and reaches beyond the MDGs. The goals, however, present another important reason for volunteer organizations and individuals to convene online.

The power of the Internet is just beginning to serve the offices of the United Nations. Strong examples include ReliefWeb.org and the DevelopmentGateway.org, which have fostered international networks of interest groups and brought them together toward common goals. WorldVolunteerWeb.org is different in that it offers a place where the global volunteering community – individuals, organizations and governments – can come together to share resources and coordinate activities online to make a real impact on the ground.